Arizona U.S. District Judge John Roll, who stopped by to see Giffords at her Tucson, Ariz., meeting with constituents, was killed in the mass shooting.

“Obviously, everyone is just very aware,” Huizenga said. “We are doing some things to assess our district and the district’s office.”

The conference call involved House members and their families. Huizenga said representatives, particularly newly elected members, are being advised to stay in contact with their local police to make sure they have proper security.

“You have so many new members who are starting to open offices,” he said. “They are saying, ‘Be cautious, be aware and do threat assessments.”

Huizenga is sponsoring a telephone town hall meeting in coming days and still is planning to meet personally with constituents at meetings in the future.

He does plan to consult with Capitol Police on the issue, however.

“I’m not willing to let democracy be stymied by this nut,” he said.

Huizenga figures that providing constant security for House members simply would be too costly and burdensome.

“There is just no way to cover 435 people out in the field,” he said.

It also was unclear how the shooting, which killed six, might affect local security of federal judges.

In Grand Rapids, the federal courthouse at Michigan Street and Ottawa Avenue NW already has tighter security than state courthouses.

U.S. Deputy Marshal Steve Hetherington, in Grand Rapids, said local federal judges are being kept abreast of the situation in Arizona, but he would not speak about any discussions dealing with security.

“We wouldn’t talk about it if we were going to be doing anything differently,” Hetherington said.